Madison seeking at least $800,000 reimbursement from state of Wisconsin for public safety costs

The city of Madison will seek reimbursement of at least $800,000 from the state for the costs of Capitol protests.

The only finalized item is $462,285 in police overtime for the first three weeks of protests, Feb. 14 to March 5. March 6-12 also saw major protests, including the granddaddy event of March 12, and there were some protests the following week. Figure at least another $150,000.

This does not include the MPD's straight time costs, for the smaller number of officers assigned to the Capitol who would have been working anyway. Mayoral aide Chris Klein says Police Chief Noble Wray "wasn't comfortable" including these costs, but they could yet be added.

The city will also seek reimbursement for the Madison Metro buses used to transport State Patrol and others from the Alliant Center, which Klein says "could be another $100,000." And it will bill for EMT services and use of the city's fire station command post, "probably close to $100,000."

No bills have yet been submitted, but Klein is confident the state, which Gov. Walker insists is "broke," will "reimburse us for some of our costs."